Cost-rental housing for frontline staff among plans in Fine Gael manifesto
Cost Rental Close Could Workplaces Offer Sasko Their Homes Ie Workers Picture: To Lazarov/rollingnews Housing Frontline
The idea is to support frontline workers by ensuring they have every chance to find affordable housing close to their places of work, relieving them from long commutes.
The suggestion was initially raised by the Dublin City Taskforce and Fine Gael is exploring how to roll out such an initiative country-wide. The lack of affordable, available, and suitable accommodation is something that healthcare workers have repeatedly raised in the last few years, with many citing it as a reason for Irish doctors, nurses, and midwives choosing to move abroad.
The previously reported that nurses in the Cork HSE branch of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation were sleeping on friends’ sofas or in garden sheds because they were unable to find accommodation, while others had quit their hospital jobs.
Other measures aimed at pulling in votes from renters include raising the rent tax credit to €1,500 per renter or €3,000 per couple, while Fine Gael also promises to continue the landlord tax credit up until 2030 in an effort to encourage them to stay in the rental market.
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The party’s housing manifesto, officially launched this morning, sees the party doubling down on the Help to Buy scheme by raising the relief to €40,000 and extending it out to 2030.
First-time buyers are being further targeted ahead of the election, with Fine Gael planning to extend the First Home Scheme to cover second-hand homes.
Currently, the scheme provides up to 30% of the home’s cost for first-time buyers purchasing a new home or building their first home, with the Government or banks then having a stake in the property.
Fine Gael will announce plans to use €10bn of the Apple tax money to build over 300,000 homes by 2030, while also guaranteeing funding for the Land Development Agency.
Housing is set to be one of the key issues in this general election and Fine Gael will be hoping this package is enough to woo those voters struggle to afford rent and buy a home of their own.
Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris has also set out the party’s plans to tackle immigration, saying that international protection applicants who are working and earning money should pay a reasonable sum towards their keep.
Mr Harris said the Government must take a “compassionate” but “common-sense” approach to asylum seekers.
He maintained that payments would be “means-tested and fair” and added that the number of deportations of unsuccessful asylum applicants has risen this year, and he foresees further increases in the coming year.
Regarding US president-elect Donald Trump and the possibility that his tenure in the White House might have a negative impact on Ireland and its EU partners, Mr Harris said the spectre of Mr Trump carrying out his election promises of increasing US tariffs for imports presented a possibility of “turmoil” for the EU.
He said Ireland will see how Mr Trump “translates his policies into action”, but maintained that the EU and US need each other, and a summit should be scheduled shortly between the two sides to ensure co-operation.
The Taoiseach said that if there are negatives from the Trump rule, this again emphasises the reason why Fine Gael set aside money in a “rainy-day fund” to provide against impacts on the Irish economy.